Member Article

Corporate cyclists raise money for SportsAid

More than 170 cyclists took part in the ‘Yorkshire Classic’ yesterday (1 May); a challenging 67 mile pursuit event organised by Lupton Fawcett Denison Till in aid of SportsAid.

The Yorkshire law firm, which is supporting Welcome to Yorkshire and the Grand Départ, initially invited 30 teams of four from the business world to take part but, due to the popularity of the event, had to set a cut off limit at 44 teams.

The ‘Yorkshire Classic’ started at Ilkley Rugby Club, headed into the Dales where it picked up the official Tour de France route and, following lunch in Kettlewell, headed back to the rugby club along the River Wharfe.

The time for each team was recorded via a chip timing system with the time of the last team member crossing the line being registered.

The fastest team was ‘Entrepreneurial Lawyers’, which included Chrissie Lightfoot, Mark Ambler, Ian Prescott and Mark Gaftarnick, who were presented with a trophy by local Yorkshire hero Brian Robinson, the first British winner of a stage of a Tour de France in 1958.

The fastest individual time of four hours, 44 minutes and 26 seconds was set by Nick Cotton from Nonnas

Chairman of Lupton Fawcett Denison Till, Kevin Emsley was delighted with the support the firm received for the event from the corporate world.

“We were taken aback that so many companies wanted to take part. It was a magnificent turn out to help raise money for SportsAid, which funds rising sports stars, helping them achieve their ambitions to be the best in the world,” he said.

“We are particularly pleased to have Alfie Moses here from Keighley who, at 16 years old, is currently ranked third in the UK in youth cyclo-cross. We all wish him best of luck for the future and we will be watching his career with interest.

“It was a fantastic achievement by all the teams but congratulations go to Entrepreneurial Lawyers. They have obviously worked hard on their fitness and can now claim to be the fastest corporate team on two wheels in the area!

“I would also like to thank Northgate Vehicle hire for providing the support vehicles to ensure that everyone returned to base safely.” Speaking on behalf of SportsAid, Jo Addie, regional fundraising and development manager, said,

“We are delighted that the Yorkshire Challenge cycling event has been such a success. It was great to see so many teams turning out to support up and coming athletes in the region. Events such as this help us to support even more young athletes, helping them with costs such as training, competition fees and travel”.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Peter Downey .